Westboro Baptist to protest Newtown?

posted at 12:31 pm on December 16, 2012 by Jazz Shaw

As if things weren’t bad enough in Newtown, Connecticut already, word has begun circulating that they may be the recipients of some unsavory and most decidedly unwelcome “guests” today in connection with President Obama’s visit. The members of Westboro Baptist Church, (yes… those guys again) are apparently threatening to protest at the funerals of the slain children.

On Saturday, Shirley Phelps-Roper – a member of the extremely controversial Westboro Baptist Church – messaged with a tweet on the social media platform of Twitter:

Westboro will picket Sandy Hook Elementary School to sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment.

The message on Twitter was sent the day after 20 children and six adults were killed by Adam Lanza in the horrific massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Words simply can not describe how disgusting this would be nor the possible reaction to it. But the Westboro clan won’t have all smooth sailing. Members of Reddit are planning a counter-march to block them if they show up. The Phelps folk have attracted some enemies of their own as well, including one of the most odd pairings I can recall seeing. The hacker group Anonymous has set their sights on Westboro, already hacking their web site and releasing the personal details of their members.

The hacking collective known as Anonymous renewed their war on the Westboro Baptist Church today. After the haters from the infamous church posted their intentions to picket the funerals of the twenty children killed in the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Anonymous responded by re-posting the personal and professional information for members of the church on the Internet. Now the general public can contact the church members directly and tell them what they think about people who would desecrate the funerals of murdered children.

No matter how revolting this entire situation becomes, I still have one question about the key players here. Does the Baptist Church have any measure of control over who uses their name? I know that when there is a new Catholic church erected, closed or moved, there’s a rather lengthy process involved so they maintain some level of control over their locations. Do the Baptists have nothing similar, or can just anyone go throw a sign up on their garage proclaiming it a Baptist Church and begin slaughtering chickens? It just seems to me that they would have distanced themselves entirely from these Phelps idiots by now if they have any control over it.

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My understanding is a number of them at the church are attys. Call Patriot Guard. While they have been successful for military funerals, perhaps a number of them would be happy to escort families that request it.

We had a number of protests by them a few years back, but due to Patriot Guard escorting the military families they have given up in our area. Never any violence, just a lot of flags to shield the families.

And i hope for the same outcome good King Henry II got for his similar query. Sometimes it’s just got to be done for the good of all.

And I’m always surprised that secular people know so little about church denominations. There are 9 dozen different flavors of Baptists, and they all argue over which is the “real” one. So yes, if you want to call yourself Bubba Ray’s Baptist Church and BBQ, there’s nobody to say you can’t.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again . . . the problem is not guns or any other inanimate object. The problem is this sick-ass society we have created and continue to nurture. The nation has lost its traditional core values and has reverted to an anything goes, hedonistic conglomeration of misguided, misinformed, Godless liberal slugs.

If Westboro keeps this lunacy up it wouldn’t surprise me to see then a target of a looney.

Art on December 16, 2012 at 12:39 PM

I would not be surprised at all if what pushes the USA over the edge of civil order is these freaks showing up at the wrong place, suddenly being Zerg-rushed by the protestees, and things snowballing from there.

There are several different kinds of baptists. The largest being southern baptists and while each church is autonomous, there is a process for UN-baptisting churches.
But these people are NOT southern baptists.
I hope people harass the crap out of those incestuous morons.

This! How does Jazz not mention in this post that 11 of Phelps 13 children are lawyers. They go out looking to get assaulted so they can sue the local police department for not adequately protecting them.

They have their own law firm in Kansas. Apparently they are great at the law, and quite enterprising because their shenanigans have worked out well for them.

And i hope for the same outcome good King Henry II got for his similar query. Sometimes it’s just got to be done for the good of all.

Tom Servo on December 16, 2012 at 12:43 PM

This is the ultimate endgame of a society where people try to delegate everything but immediate self-defense to layers and judges and similar trappings of nicety.

One of the responsibilities of a civilized nation is sometimes getting over personal squeamishness to get something unpleasant done. As evidenced by the Bush Wars and Obama Occupations, we haven’t the spine to do this anymore, and this is one of the costs.

“We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we have systematically removed God from our schools,” Huckabee said. “Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?”

Huckabee then went on to add that “we’ve made it a place where we don’t want to talk about eternity, life, what responsibility means, accountability — that we’re not just going to have be accountable to the police if they catch us, but one day we stand before, you know, a holy God in judgment.”

The problem is this sick-ass society we have created and continue to nurture. The nation has lost its traditional core values and has reverted to an anything goes, hedonistic conglomeration of misguided, misinformed, Godless liberal slugs.

rplat on December 16, 2012 at 12:43 PM

Really? Because in this instance, the proper object of derision are hardly Godless. For all their numerous and egregious faults, one can hardly call the Westboro Klan insincere in their belief in God. And I suspect they would rather vigorously argue that they were the ones upholding traditional core American values…

Why don’t the unions become useful for once and quietly provide ‘voluntary security’ at the funerals? Give the CT teacher unions time off (with wildcat support by other unions), for some of their own members were murdered. Let them carry picket signs, too, at a respectful distance so if they need to strongarm they can’t be charged because it’s being called a union protest.

But unacceptable when Westboro Baptist says the same thing, just louder and more obnoxiously? Is it just that they are profoundly tacky or the very philosophy undergirding them?

libfreeordie on December 16, 2012 at 12:49 PM

Typical leftist troll defending the Westboro Democrats regardless of how vile they behave. I guess if you are OK with a guy like Ted Kennedy and drowned girls, its a small step to embracing these scum.

Do the Baptists have nothing similar, or can just anyone go throw a sign up on their garage proclaiming it a Baptist Church and begin slaughtering chickens?

Anybody can call themselves a Baptist. There’s no central hierarchy as with us Catholics. That said, the Baptists do have various conventions — groups of Baptist churches with common theology. These conventions each determine which churches align enough with the common theology to gain admittance.

So its OK when Mike huckabee says … But unacceptable when Westboro Baptist says the same thing, just louder and more obnoxiously?

libfreeordie on December 16, 2012 at 12:49 PM

Yes.

The difference between someone like Huckabee and the Westboro Baptist Church is that Huckabee doesn’t go around condemning or harassing the victims. When you attack someone who is grieving and has done nothing wrong, then yes, you’re going to be regarded as despicable.

It is my sincerest hope that if these certified assclown jackasses from Westboro Baptist Church even come within 5 miles of the city limits, that the larger and more brawnier citizens of Newtown be there to greet them with nail-studded baseball bats, pointy sticks, and some nice hot tar and bags of feathers, just for good measure!

Stop calling these people a church. They are a cult. The Baptist church wants nothing to do with them. They just use the name.

In fact.. years and years ago I was listening to Mike Galliger in the radio. He was interviewing one of the founders. She was lawyer working in some firm or something before she started this cult. I cannot remember the details of that interview.. they weren’t that well known then. But all I remember thinking as I was listening to her.. “she’s a Democrat hack who started a cult to make real Christians look bad.”

It would not be for the good of others. The darkest days of Christianity were when Christians murdered to promote the faith. These people, whose views and words are reprehensible to the majority of us, have not performed any acts of violence — should they do so, a violent reaction commensurate with their acts would be appropriate.

For now, the Patriot Riders response is the appropriate one — if Freedom of Speech is the Westboro weapon of choice, then by all means use it against them — occupy the places they would occupy, and use your own speech to overwhelm theirs. They cannot stop you, for the same weapons they use to stop you can be used against them — as they themselves have proven in court.

From an email I sent to a friend after they announced their intention to picket the funerals of my fellow VT students after 32 of them were murdered in 2007. I personally buried a buddy of mine and almost had to bury my then (now ex) girlfriend.

If you desire to know any more about the sick person who was going to picket the funerals and perhaps get something seriously going to FIGHT THIS GUY…look at this material. It’s from a 1994/1995 book about the WBC and is posted online as a matter of public record.

No one deserves to have these “people” at their hour of grief. I suspected that their was seriously something wrong with this guy, and this book reads just like “A Child Called ‘It'”, confirming my worst beliefs and fears about this sick individual.

The two people Mike Galliger had on his program were women. One was, what sounded like, a professional lawyer who had a good career. She had worked in a firm or possibly in politics. This interview he had was a long time ago and I wasn’t as familiar with the group then.

I didn’t catch the whole thing.. but from what I did hear as this one woman described her past.. she sounded like a Democrat hack.

All I do know is I came away from that interview thinking this woman was nothing but a Democrat who was out to make the real church look bad.
For instance.. why aren’t they ever picketing Muslims? Why is their focus always on the innocent? There is something more to this cult than meets the eye.

So its OK when Mike huckabee says … But unacceptable when Westboro Baptist says the same thing, just louder and more obnoxiously?

libfreeordie on December 16, 2012 at 12:49 PM

Yes.

The difference between someone like Huckabee and the Westboro Baptist Church is that Huckabee doesn’t go around condemning or harassing the victims. When you attack someone who is grieving and has done nothing wrong, then yes, you’re going to be regarded as despicable.

Stoic Patriot on December 16, 2012 at 12:57 PM

So no one has a problem with Huckabee blaming atheists?

libfreeordie on December 16, 2012 at 1:13 PM

No. Nor do I have a problem with Westboro being free to say what they say.

I do have a problem with their venue. I’m with Stoic on this one. But the only solution which does not abrogate anyone’s free speech rights is to counter Westboro’s free speech and free assembly rights with free speech and free assembly of our own.

You are welcome to do the same to Mr. Huckabee if that’s your druthers.

Someone was interviewing Huckabee and asked him “where is God.” He brought up the fact that the country has allowed God to be removed from the schools and some are agitating to remove God completely from public life, and you ask where is God?”

Huckabee’s response is entirely reasonable. On the other hand, God can’t be excluded as He is everywhere and His restraining influence keeps the world from going completely to hell in a handbasket. That is coming in the near future and unbelievers will have the rot they have created shoved down their throats.

So, the Huckster is going to go there and hold up signs with cartoon sodomy images and tell these people that their kids and loved ones deserved to die? That’s not even a comparison, Lib.

I would not be surprised at all if what pushes the USA over the edge of civil order is these freaks showing up at the wrong place, suddenly being Zerg-rushed by the protestees, and things snowballing from there.

This might not be “not optimal” thread to offer an advice, but here is what goes on my local city forum. When a bunch of rabid liberal posters restarted their “ban all weapons now” song, a powerful counterargument emerged: “Cars kill more people than guns every year. A car is potentially a more dangerous weapon than a gun. Give up yours, convince other liberals to do same, and then we talk.“

I feel like if an angry mob lynched the entire WBC tomorrow, the entire country would gasp, and immediately go about its business. They are so universally reviled, why would we go nuts over their comeuppance?

But unacceptable when Westboro Baptist says the same thing, just louder and more obnoxiously? Is it just that they are profoundly tacky or the very philosophy undergirding them?

libfreeordie on December 16, 2012 at 12:49 PM

Look dipshit, it’s where it is being said. It’s also why it is being said.

The Westboro shitheads are doing this at military funerals and now at school shootings. They are doing this, as pointed out above, to see if they can get assaulted so they can sue.

Those clowns are said to be among the right wing spectrum yet we repudiate them at every turn.

Tell me, when was the last time someone on the left repudiated anyone in its ranks? Clinton’s philandering and serial abuse? No, that was his personal life. John Edwards’ philandering? No. That Dem Congressman who was boinking pages? No. Ward Churchill who called all the people that died on 9/11 “little Eichmanns?” No, he got tenure. Øbama’s buddy and terrorist Bill Ayers? No, he was just a guy in the neighborhood. Biden and Hillary when they made racist remarks about Indians? No, they’re just goofy.

What does a lefty have to do to get kicked out? Why is it only the right that is required to pay penance for its members who violate its principles?

Phelps has run in various Kansas Democratic Party primaries five times, but has never won. These included races for governor in 1990, 1994, and 1998, receiving about 15 percent of the vote in 1998.[30] In the 1992 Democratic Party primary for U.S. Senate, Phelps received 31 percent of the vote.[31] Phelps ran for mayor of Topeka in 1993[32][33] and 1997.[3

Phelps earned a law degree from Washburn University in 1964, and founded the Phelps Chartered law firm.[9] The first notable cases were related to civil rights. “I systematically brought down the Jim Crow laws of this town,” he claims.[3] Phelps’ daughter was quoted as saying, “We took on the Jim Crow establishment, and Kansas did not take that sitting down. They used to shoot our car windows out, screaming we were nigger lovers,” and that the Phelps law firm made up one-third of the state’s federal docket of civil rights cases.[10]

Phelps took cases on behalf of African-American clients alleging racial discrimination by school systems, and a predominantly black American Legion post which had been raided by police, alleging racially based police abuse.[11] Phelps’ law firm obtained settlements for some clients.[12] Phelps also sued President Ronald Reagan over Reagan’s appointment of a U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, alleging this violated separation of church and state.

The guy is a liberal hack doing a Fast and Furious style attack on our 1sr Amendment.

Who does this cult hurt and who does this cult help? It makes even the best of us want to say “There ought to be a law.”

Really? Because in this instance, the proper object of derision are hardly Godless. For all their numerous and egregious faults, one can hardly call the Westboro Klan insincere in their belief in God. And I suspect they would rather vigorously argue that they were the ones upholding traditional core American values…

JohnGalt23 on December 16, 2012 at 12:50 PM

I certainly can, as can anyone who actually believes in God and lives their life in accordance with those beliefs.
(For that matter so can anyone who doesn’t believe in God but has even a basic knowledge of those who do)

For anyone who thinks that these vermin are religious, I have a question:

How many times can a vegan eat bacon double cheeseburgers for breakfast, lunch and dinner before it’s ok to say he isn’t really a vegan?